Airbnb owners - empty properties


While Airbnb just recorded its most lucrative quarter in the company’s 14-year history, its property owners are freaking out over rapidly declining occupancy rates, and plummeting profits. This post on an Airbnb super hosts page is making the rounds and is just a snapshot of the panic many Airbnb owners are feeling as their money-making rental homes are sitting unoccupied.



Airbnb’s growing profits indicate that this problem does not stem from a declining trend in travel, but rather an oversaturation of the short-term rental market, and an overall declining customer satisfaction level.



The term “passive income” has become a buzzword for financial gurus, and the profit margins many Airbnb locations were reaping became enviable for those with money lying around to blow on a few houses. The result is more bookable locations than people willing to book them.




Many travelers are also raising concerns over a stark decline in customer service from hosts, citing outlandish service fees unthinkable in more traditional hotels. In short, it has become clear that many Airbnb hosts care far more about making money than they do giving people a satisfying experience.




Gone are the days of the Airbnb side hustle. This is the main hustle for many hosts, and the scale to which some have over-extended themselves is farcical. It’s understandable then, that not everyone feels bad for the over-ambition of some wealthy multi-property owners trying to profit off the rest of us. They made their Airbnb beds. Now they’ll have to lie in them.